


an actual angel

by symphorine



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Flowers, M/M, Pre-Relationship, bokuto being endearingly cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-11 02:44:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8950798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/symphorine/pseuds/symphorine
Summary: "You came here looking for an Akaashi," he recounts, holding his mug like it's the most precious gem. "You were drunk, probably. And you pet my cat. And I let you crash on my bed.""The hell, dude," Bokuto says. "Why would you let a perfect stranger stay in your bedroom like that? I could have been a murderer!""You were a drunk guy fawning over my cat," Kuroo points out with a snort. "I've seen scarier."





	

**Author's Note:**

> for [thehobbem](http://thehobbem.tumblr.com) on tumblr!
> 
> I RLY HOPE YOU LIKE IT
> 
> also thank you amanda

Kuroo is pretty sure he's only a minute away from throwing all his books through the window when someone knocks on the door. Or maybe full-body lands on it, judging from the sound, loud enough to reach him even though he has his earphones.

He looks back at the lines of text blurring before his eyes and tries to focus again, but the knock happens a second time.

He frowns and looks up this time, though his cat - called Caterpillar, in honor of kid Kuroo's problems with differentiating animals -, curled up on his bed, doesn't lift a single toe. He's not waiting for anybody, and unless Daichi is as desperate as Kuroo feels right now, he doesn't think anybody has a reason to come see him at one in the morning. Besides, his friends have all stopped knocking before entering long ago.

The third knock is accompanied by something that sounds like a whine. Kuroo sighs and gets up, tries not to trip over the clothes thrown on the ground - he may have forgotten to actually go do laundry today - and opens the door, barely avoiding what should have been the fourth knock and almost became a black eye.

He comes face to face with the most handsome guy he's ever seen. His hair looks pretty wild, but Kuroo feels like he isn't really in a place to judge. The guy's eyes are almost golden, and his face belongs on marble in a museum. The fact that he also looks pretty drunk does nothing to make him less attractive, and Kuroo suddenly feels very self-conscious in the pajamas he's been wearing for two days. And wishes he'd remembered to take a shower today.

"Hey," the stranger exclaims, words just a little bit slurred. "Where's Akaashi?"

He comes in before Kuroo can answer, and almost slips and falls. He grabs Kuroo's arm to steady himself, and Kuroo grabs the doorway, hoping he still has enough balance for the two of them.

"Oh," the guy says as he looks around. "This 'nt Akaashi's room."

Kuroo turns around and crosses his arms. Now that he isn't focused on his textbook, he realizes the hammering in his brain might have been a headache. "No, it's mine, and if you could get out and let me study, I'd appreciate it," he declares.

"Kitty," the other guy says, completely ignoring him.

He practically launches himself at Caterpillar, who blinks lazily but doesn't move to leave when he starts petting her. She even starts to  _ purr _ , the traitor.

"Fine!" Kuroo surrenders, throwing his arms up. "Fine, stay here, sleep in my bed, I don't care, just be quiet."

The guy vaguely hums and keeps stroking Caterpillar's ears. She looks very content, and Kuroo hadn't really planned on using his bed anyway, he thinks. At least the drunk stranger won't go out in the unknown and hurt himself.

Kuroo sits at his desk again, tries to make abstraction of the headache and the stranger in his bed, and starts reading from the beginning of the chapter again.

* * *

He's woken up by Caterpillar's screech and a very loud string of swearing coming from behind him. He feels pretty cold, and when he tries to move his head, his entire body protests.

It's only when he cracks an eye open that he realizes he slept on his desk, the sun is up, and last night's stranger is still in his room.

"What the  _ fuck _ . Who are you?" the guys yells, obviously panicked.

Kuroo just stares at him, not awake enough yet to be able to reply.

"I'm serious, what the fuck am I doing here?" Handsome Stranger keeps asking. "Did you kidnap me?"

"I'm Kuroo Tetsurou," Kuroo finally manages to articulate. "You crashed here last night."

Handsome Stranger crosses his arms, puzzled. "I crashed here? From the party? Do I know you?"

Kuroo rubs at his temples and gets up, hoping he still has some coffee. He's not sure he hasn't used it all this week-end yet. He glances at the clock on his wall in passing, but it's not even seven yet. He still has some time before his exam.

"Hey!" Handsome But Very Annoying Stranger yells after him.

"What's your name, anyway," Kuroo grumbles, noting with relief that he still has enough to survive this day.

"My... oh." Handsome Stranger seems suddenly very sheepish. "I'm Bokuto Koutarou. You say I crashed here?"

"Hm-hm," Kuroo answers.

There isn’t much noise for the next minute, and only once Kuroo has had his first, very long, sip of coffee, does he start talking. His neck feels stiff.

"You came here looking for an Akaashi," he recounts, holding his mug like it's the most precious gem. "You were drunk, probably. And you pet my cat. And I let you crash on my bed."

"The hell, dude," Bokuto says. "Why would you let a perfect stranger stay in your bedroom like that? I could have been a murderer!"

"You were a drunk guy fawning over my cat," Kuroo points out with a snort. "I've seen scarier."

Bokuto's lips form a silent 'o' and he falls back in silence, still fidgeting, still sitting on Kuroo's bed. There's a fleeting thought of warmth and cuddling going through Kuroo's brain, but he shakes his head.

"I don't know if you have class this morning, but I do," he finally says. "I'll go take a shower and leave, so I suggest you do the same. Or go home, whatever you prefer."

Bokuto blinks slowly at him, like he's processing what he's saying. "I'll, uh. I'll go home. Thanks for letting me... stay."

Kuroo shrugs. "I was planning on pulling an all-nighter anyway. Exams."

"Oh, shit!" Bokuto exclaims, color draining from his face. "I'm so sorry, I fucked up your studying, didn't I? Oh fuck-"

Kuroo is way, way too tired for this. The headache is coming back.

"Dude," he interrupts him. "It's okay. Just, like, go home and text people to let them know you're not dead in a ditch somewhere."

Bokuto shouts another string of swears at that and frantically looks for his phone, which he ends up finding under Kuroo's sheets. Kuroo stays just long enough to watch the thrilling conclusion, and see Bokuto starting to scroll down desperately, but he really needs to take that shower and then go to class. He didn't fall asleep on his desk to miss the exam, dammit. He grabs soap and a towel and gets out, completely missing the fact that he's leaving a perfect stranger in his room alone.

When he comes back, Bokuto has left, without a note or a goodbye. Kuroo sighs and drops a hand to pet Caterpillar, back to her usual spot on his bed, and sits at his desk again to make use of the last few minutes he has before he needs to go.

* * *

"So? How was it?"

Kuroo shrugs. "Could have been worse."

"You always say that." Daichi points out. "It doesn't even mean anything anymore."

Kuroo runs his hand through his hair, and it sticks up even more. "I don't know, honestly. I know all the material, but I'm not sure my sentences made sense."

"How much did you sleep last night?" Daichi asks, eyes suspicious over his cup of coffee.

"No idea. Three hours? Four? There was a guy who interrupted me at 1, I feel asleep at least two hours after that, and then I woke up at six, so…"

"A guy?"

Kuroo rubs his eyes. He can't go back and sleep now, he still has another class this morning.

"Yeah, a guy. Don't know him. He was looking for a friend and ended up crashing in my bed."

Daichi looks perplexed. "You lost me there. Was that supposed to be the logical progression of events?"

"He was drunk and I was too tired to kick him out," Kuroo shrugs, downing the last half of his coffee in one gulp. "He said his name is Bokuto Koutarou, if that rings a bell for you? Gray, white and black hair, looks like a god, his biceps are the arm equivalent of your thighs?"

"Vaguely," Daichi frowns. "I'll have to ask Tooru."

"Do that, then. After the morning hell is over," Kuroo sighs, getting up and throwing his empty cup in the nearest trashcan.

Daichi considers him for a second, then shakes his head.

"You can nap for a bit," he declares, following Kuroo. "I'll lend you my notes."

"You're an angel."

* * *

"An actual angel, Akaashi," Bokuto repeats, staring off into the stack of dishes drying in Akaashi's kitchen corner.

He's been trying to commit Kuroo Tetsurou's face to his memory since this morning, which is a lot harder than it should be, considering the guy looks everything but forgettable. He's zoned out a lot during dinner, but Akaashi is giving him a bit of silent treatment anyway.

"You only say that because he didn't kick you out," Akaashi replies before he takes a sip of his coffee.

Bokuto slumps on the table. "Why are you being so mean? I already apologized for making you worry!"

"I wasn't  _ worried _ ," Akaashi lies, turning the page of his book. "But you could have at least texted."

There's a small silence, only broken by the sound of the clock, ticking the seconds away.

"Do you think I'll meet him again?" Bokuto asks, still half dreaming of Kuroo's eyes.

Akaashi finally gives up and pushes his book away, though he keeps the coffee close. Bokuto is pretty sure it's the only thing that lets him deal with life. "You know you don't have to wait until you see him by chance, right?"

"What do you mean?"

Akaashi makes a face. "You know where he lives."

"Oh." Bokuto hadn't thought about it like that. "Right." Akaashi is obviously waiting for him to say something else, so he adds, "I should probably apologize, right?"

"That would be the adult move," Akaashi comments with a shrug.

Bokuto drags his hands down his face. He's torn between guilt, because he  _ had _ probably ruined the guy's night, and excitement, because said guy was  _ really hot _ . And funny, if what little interaction they'd had was anything to go by. And he really wants to see him again.

"What do you bring for that kind of thing?" he laments. "Booze?"

"Considering you were drunk in the first place, it might not be the most appropriate," Akaashi snorts.

"Then what? Chocolate? Flowers?" Bokuto lists, prepared to go on.

Akaashi, thankfully, cuts him off. "Flowers should be good. And less expensive."

Bokuto nods. "Okay. I'll go buy some and-"

"Now?"

"Yeah?"

"In the middle of the evening?" Akaashi clarifies. "You want to apologize, not crash his night again."

Bokuto sighs, dejected. "I keep forgetting time is a thing."

"That sounds inconvenient."

"Your biological cycle is synchronized with your coffee absorption," Bokuto points out. "You don't get to give me shit about this."

"I get to give you shit about everything," Akaashi snipes back with a smile. "Best friend privileges."

Bokuto narrows his eyes. "Best friends also come with a duty."

Akaashi seems to realize he's walked right into this one. "Fuck."

"So you're coming with me to choose the flowers for Kuroo."

Akaashi scoffs, drinking the last of his coffee before he replies. "It's not like I could even help you choose. I don't know him."

"Please?" Bokuto pleads.

Before Akaashi can think of trying to resist, he adopts his most pitiful-looking face. He's had years to perfect it and to learn when to place it in conversations to make Akaashi give in. Of course, Akaashi is perfectly aware of the tactic, but it's too efficient for him not to fall for it.

"Okay, fine," he relents, "but you're going back to his apartment by yourself."

* * *

Kuroo doesn't hear about Bokuto for the next few days, and they don't cross path either. He doesn't really look for him, and he's pretty sure that if they'd met before, he would have remembered him, so it's not that surprising. He can't deny he's curious about the guy, but midterms are kicking his ass, and he doesn't have the energy to devote to anything else.

So he's caught completely unprepared when he comes home one night to find Bokuto, standing in front of his door, a large bouquet in his hands. He's obviously waiting, fidgeting with his hands but trying not to touch the flowers. He jumps when Kuroo enters the hallway.

"Oh! Hey!" Bokuto almost yells, his grip tightening on the flowers.

"Hey," Kuroo greets back as he tries to find his keys. "What are you doing here?"

Bokuto presents the bouquet, almost shoving it in Kuroo's chest. "I'm here to give these to you to apologize!" he declares loudly. "For the other day. Night. I'm sorry I invaded your room."

Kuroo blinks, dumbfounded. Nobody's ever given him flowers before, and he needs a few seconds to recover from the surprise. He takes the bouquet between his hands and examines it.

"Isn't food a more common apology gift?" he points out, just a tiny bit amused.

Bokuto looks like he doesn't know where to put himself. "I thought so too, but Akaashi said I might give you stuff you don't like, and that there's less chances to go wrong with flowers."

Kuroo can't help but smile. "I could have allergies."

Bokuto's eyes widen in panic and Kuroo regrets immediately. " _ Do _ you have allergies? Oh man, I'm so-"

"It's okay!" Kuroo hurries to reassure him, waving the flowers in his face accidentally. "Oops, sorry. But no, don't worry, I'm not allergic." He smiles and smells them to demonstrate; he's surprised to find that they do smell really good, like they'd been freshly plucked, and not as much like the generic smell a lot of flowers out of flower shops carried.

"They're lovely," Kuroo adds sincerely. "You didn't have to, though."

Bokuto clears his throat and looks away. "I wanted to. I wanted to see you, actually."

Kuroo is grateful for the way the flowers are hiding most of his face. He's pretty sure his face is betraying everything he’s thinking right now.

"Ah, I mean, I don't want to be too much!" Bokuto adds immediately, putting his hands up as if to protect himself. "I just, um, you look like a cool guy, and to be honest, you're really handsome, so I just. Uh."

He trails off and looks longingly at the staircase, tragically situated way behind Kuroo. Kuroo, who's trying to process everything Bokuto just said, because it simply... doesn't make sense.

"We've talked twice before," he reminds him. "And you were drunk during the first one, I'm pretty sure you don't even remember. I mean, I'm flattered, but-"

Bokuto makes a complicated gesture that fizzles into flailing. "I'm not asking you out on a date! I mean, not right away," he amends. "I just want to get to know you better. If you'd be okay with that, obviously, I won't stalk you or anything if you don't, so feel free to say no."

Kuroo can't help but laugh a little. It's kind of cute, the way Bokuto's rambling, and, well, he seems nice enough, too. He's brought flowers to apologize.

"I've got class again this evening," Kuroo says, "but I can give you my number, if you want."

Bokuto is the perfect image of wordless exclamation. He fumbles and almost drops his phone, but manages to hand it to Kuroo so he can enter his number. And then, finally, Kuroo steps around him to open his door. He tries to hide the inside of his room a little, even though he's pretty sure it was roughly in the same state when Bokuto had stayed over. He's awake enough to feel self-conscious about it, though, this time.

"I'll text you later!" Bokuto promises as he saunters to the stairs.

He throws Kuroo one last grin, and then he's gone.

Kuroo closes the door behind him, flowers still in hand. They take up a lot of space, space that he doesn't really have to begin with, but he doesn't want to throw them away. He manages to find glasses tall enough to use as vases, but he has to split up the bouquet.

He place one part on his tiny table, and the other on top of his desk, stepping back to admire the way it brightens the room.

Impractical, he thinks, but pretty. And charming, the same way Bokuto is, in their very existence, here and now.

...he may have said no to that date a little too soon.

**Author's Note:**

> also on [tumblr](http://asexualkurootetsurou.tumblr.com/post/154797546599)


End file.
